Speakers

AJ Nolin is Verge Ag's Product Manager. Working closely with OEMs, Dealers, and Growers, his aim is to provide solutions that help the stakeholders in operations planning.

AJ has always been passionate about technology, with his main interests being networking, drones, and video games. His experience includes working with DOT/Raven Industries on multiple autonomy initiatives. AJ was a proud member of the team that successfully commercialized the world's first Autonomous Ag Power Platform. AJ will cover the benefits of pre-season planning versus field-side planning. He will also lead a discussion around the importance of boundary accuracy and what it means from a planning perspective.

Alex Melnitchouck holds his Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences, and second Master’s Degree in Soils and Environmental Sciences, backed up by 25 years of work experience at the international level, including precision Ag projects in Canada, USA, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. He is a member of Alberta Institute of Agrologists (P.Ag.) and an author of more than 50 publications in scientific journals and proceedings of conferences.

Alex’s area of expertise encompasses various aspects of spatial data management and analysis in agriculture and environment including aerial and satellite imagery, soil and yield data, prescription and as-applied files. His main research interests and practical experience comprise analysis of spatial variability of growing conditions, environmental modeling, approaches to delineation of management zones and economic benefits of precision agriculture.

Brady has enjoyed a long career with Syngenta, first as a field biologist for 20 years followed by another 16 years as technical support for sales team, where he continues to advance our understanding of biologicals in the commercial agriculture space.

Bruce McTavish possesses over 30 years of sales and marketing experience in diverse agricultural crop inputs and food processing companies, ranging from start-ups to global companies. During his career, he has been active with the Canadian Association of Agricultural Retailers, Crop Life Canada, and Canola Council of Canada, and holds diplomas in agriculture and business administration from the University of Manitoba and Red River College.

Cam has focused his 30-year career in fluid dynamics on several new product innovations. He has been granted multiple patents on both air flow and fluid dynamics on innovative products that have been launched in many markets. He now combines his quest for water conservation with his vision for advancements in fluid dynamics in the creation of the InteliRain Irrigation system. He has recently received an ATB Innovation Award and a Canada 150 Award for this revolutionary approach to turf and agricultural irrigation.

Planet images the entire growing region of the planet nearly everyday, enabling exciting new opportunities and solving old challenges for digital transformation and sustainable agriculture. Now with our growing fleet of Superdoves in orbit we have added even greater capabilities with 8 spectral bands imaging almost everywhere everyday. We will take a look at how our latest generation of sensors in the largest ever Earth Observation constellation, Planetscope, is empowering today's agriculture industry, and further explore what else is new on the horizon with Planet's agile aerospace approach.

Chris Paterson has been involved with agronomy and agribusiness across North America for 25 years, and for the past ten years has been directly involved with the development of new business applications and value streams around the Digitization of Farming, Agribusiness, and AgriFood. Chris’s favorite area of focus is where strategy meets technology.

Chris is motivated by being a connector, and his background as a farmer, an investor, an entrepreneur, a team leader, a technical agronomist, a writer, a traveler, and a social networker help him connect the best ideas to the right people.

Curtis Wong, Trendi’s Partnership Director, has broad experience and in-depth knowledge of business development, marketing, and hospitality with a strong understanding of financial models. His career spans across multiple areas including tourism, innovation, non-profit and across all levels of public and private sectors, allowing him to develop a wide-reaching network. His multifaceted professional experience has shaped his ability to think outside of the box and approach complex problems in ways that are creative, engaging and refreshing. As Partnership Director, Curtis works as a collaborator who fosters relationships and builds community, taking Trendi’s story outside of the realm of robotics and technology and making it accessible to everyone by focusing on the simple philosophy that drives him: to save the world from food waste.

Dan was born and raised on Aberhart Farms on the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border. Today many solutions are put to the test in real world conditions there.

Dan has spent over 25 years in challenging roles in marketing, sales, business development, and leadership in the ag world. Spanning the prairie provinces in the realm of equipment sales, water management, and now sustainable fertility, it’s all about connecting people with opportunities for Dan. He prides himself on bringing big and important things with tremendous value to the market via his signature “SHAMWOW” storytelling.

In 2013, after attaining 70% market share selling green iron, he left his role as a salesman to pursue entrepreneurship. In 2015, he founded Aberhart Ag Solutions with his dad Harvey and brother Terry. This business has grown from a fresh regional start-up to a company with millions in annual sales and acres spread across Western Canada, and grows at a rapid pace. In 2019, Dan and his brother Terry started the "Growing the Future Podcast”, where they let their curiosity guide them in conversation with top producers, entrepreneurs, and leaders in farming. Dan’s passionate about sharing his story and talents onstage, constantly learning about business, and contributing however he can. Dan's goal is to collaborate in business innovations to transform the industry.

David Stonehouse obtained his Thermography Certification in 1989. Thinking out side the box, he co-developed the first thermal-color video camera image fusion system in early 1990s, where having both images together, aided in image interpretations. This lead David to keeping current with technology innovations and later integrated GPS and orientation data enabled correction of imagery in an automated fashion, where the digital map viewable in Google Earth was the output. David is now a leading thermal consultant world wide, providing expertise where it is needed.

Dr. MacKenzie is an associate professor in the department of Renewable Resources, with 20 years of experience in soil science. Over the last 5 years Dr. MacKenzie has developed a keen interest in agricultural soil health research and has received $1.5M of funding to examine baseline soil health in Alberta, as well as how regenerative practices such as compost fertilizer and rotational grazing may increase carbon sequestration and reduce GHG emissions. Dr. MacKenzie operates a 3000-sq ft soil wet chemistry facility located on the UofA’s North campus. The Soil-Plant Relations lab has the capacity to measure the many different below-ground processes that are mediated by plants and microbes, with cutting edge technology including: bioavailable nutrition, soil organic matter (SOM) stability, soil black carbon content, microbial structure and function, and rhizosphere polysaccharides. Analytical equipment in the lab includes high-pressure liquid chromatography for black C, gas chromatography for polysaccharides, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy for black C and SOM quality, and differential scanning calorimetry for OM stability.

Derek Rude is the Vice President Research and Development at Croptimistic Technology Inc. The Croptimistic R&D team develops automated, field data collection systems for the global SWAT MAPS service provider network. Derek possesses over twenty five years experience in domestic and international product development, technology integration, project management, and business development in Agriculture.

Greg Stamp is part of the management team with Stamp Seeds. His main roles on the farm include seed sales, marketing, and customer support. Greg is a director with Alberta Pulse Growers Commission, Pulse Canada. He has a diploma in Ag Technology from Lethbridge College and a B.Sc. from the University of Lethbridge. Greg is also a Certified Crop Adviser. Stamp Seeds is a 7000 ac irrigated and dryland seed farm and seed retail provider located in Enchant, Alberta. It is owned by brothers Greg, Matthew and Nathan Stamp. The crops grown and/or sold include faba beans, peas, lentils, corn, canola, feed and malt barley, winter wheat, hybrid fall rye, CWRS, CPS, SWSW, HWSW, GP wheat, durum wheat, flax & hybrid seed canola.

Like many industries today, the use of Digital or IoT (Internet of Things) solutions for agriculture production is gaining importance for controlling management costs in a timely and economic way. Loosely speaking, digital or IoT solutions means that a variety of assets and solutions are used to monitor your fields in a nested approach. Using the nested approach, you avoid unnecessary trips to the field, know exactly what the conditions at any given time, make timely decision about seeding, fertility, pesticide application, harvesting, and more.

This presentation will explore some of the actionable tools and solutions that are currently used for timely field management: a) Zone specific soil moisture for yield prediction, b) Disease management, using field specific disease models, c) Field specific weather forecasting and work planning tools for spray decisions.

Hubba Khatoon is the Regional Innovation Director for the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN). She has a decade of experience intersecting technology and innovation. Hubba is a leader ion Canadian tech and innovation, she is passionate about advancing food-tech integration, developing food ecosystem growth strategies, and catalyzing digital transformation in the food industry by fostering networks and collaborations. Some of her noteworthy publications include: Data & Artificial Intelligence: The dynamic duo of tech; Adaptive Action Planning for a Digital Economy; and Digital transformation in Calgary: The disruptors, not the disrupted.

Isidro Flores, a communicator at heart, has taken the initiative of showcasing Diagnostics and Repair Independence across the agricultural industry. A task of awareness and diagnostics solutions that streamline repairs and improve maintenance operations, all with efficiency as a motto and the farmer at the core.

Jesse has more than 15 years of experience working in agriculture, with the majority based in personal experience grain farming. He is passionate about seeing innovation and improved efficiency in all aspects of agriculture, and believes that Grain Discovery is at the tip of the spear.

Joshua’s background is in environmental reclamation and restoration. He joined the AAG team in 2013 to conduct numerous research projects funded by the National Research Council. This important work has helped to diversify and grow the company exponentially.

Joshua has a passion to be a leader in environmental solutions, innovation and education. He has built strong ties to the southern Alberta agriculture and business community and has continued to grow the reputation and development of the AAG product line with third party research and engaging in a team approach. Today, Joshua works very closely with dealers, suppliers and end-users to solve many soil and water issues. He has a passionate vision that extends globally for AdvancedAg.

Joshua was recently awarded an Honouring Excellence – Rising Star Award in 2020 from Lethbridge College and is now a member of the Board of Governors for the post secondary institution. He also sits in the Advisory Board for the Integrated Agriculture Technology Center and has received an Alumni Achievement Award from the Canadian Environmental Technology Advancement Corporation in 2018.

Lance and Karyn Neilson ranch south of Stettler Alberta with their four children. They operate a cow/calf and boxed beef brand under their farm name Neilson Beef. They work closely with Olds College on many projects relating to cattle behaviour and fertility. This includes utilizing facial recognition cameras for cattle and developing fenceless grazing collars, along with many low tech and low investment methods to use natural cattle behaviour to improve weight gain and fertility.

Lorne Grieger’s passion for agriculture began with family farm roots in the Swan Valley. His agricultural engineering degree from the University of Manitoba has provided multiple opportunities in the agricultural production and processing sectors.

After working in the engineering consulting and pharmaceutical sectors, Lorne joined PAMI to return to a career in agriculture. Over the past 20 years Lorne has broadened his expertise through performing and managing PAMI projects related to agricultural equipment testing, research and development; evaluation of bioenergy systems; and research into grain production, harvesting and storage techniques.

Business passion for S. Mark Francis, CIM, revolves around the small cap financial markets, and advising entrepreneurs on the capital markets, whether they are private or publicly traded. His primary engagement is as an advisor to Canadian Securities Exchange, for 15 years the world’s fastest growing stock exchange for small-cap issuers.

Mark has prior experience both as an Investment Advisor and also as a program review and business program analyst with the Province of Manitoba, Treasury Board Secretariat, and earned the Canadian Investment Manager designation. He also has several interests in private entrepreneurial projects across several industries.

The Do More Agriculture Foundation is the national voice and champion for mental health in Canadian agriculture and is changing the culture of agriculture to one where all are encouraged, supported, and empowered to take care of their mental wellbeing. Producers are among the most vulnerable when it comes to mental health issues. By collaborating with the entire industry and those working to address the state of mental health in Agriculture, we can and will make a substantial impact.

OneCup came to life over a family campout in rural Canada, where the family openly discussed the challenges of running a ranch. Growing a ranch business has become increasingly difficult. OneCup AI was born when they quiickly realized that Artificial Intelligence, not the other AI, could enable precision ranching - at scale.

Morley Wallace is the President & CEO of GPS Ontario, which is based in North Gowerm Ontario. The company that has been a pioneer in the precision agriculture industry since the year 2000.

Neil Wiens is a serial entrepreneur with a career spanning over 20 years. His real area of interest is on nutrient recovery from waste products throughout Western Canada and transforming them into useable agricultural nutrients. Neil spent many years serving on the Recycling Council of Alberta and the Compost Council of Canada. Neil has created a variety of “nutrimental” fertilizer products ranging from the Biosul to the current line of Replenish macro-and micro-nutrients. Neil holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.

Norm Janssen is a Business Development Specialist, North America for Vivent, a Swiss ag-tech company. Previously, he worked for 17 years with Alberta Agriculture as a Sr Investment Attraction Manager working with clients from the Middle East, Europe and across Canada, and before that as an Investment Attraction Officer with Saskatchewan Agriculture. At the beginning of his career he worked directly with farmers in sales and marketing with Elanco/Dow Elanco (now Corteva) in Saskatchewan.

CAAIN is a not-for-profit company funded principally by the Government of Canada to support the research, development, and adoption of emerging knowledge and technology necessary to drive the sustainable growth of Canada’s agriculture economy.

To say that Patience Palmer is highly qualified for her role of CAAIN Program Manager is to state the obvious. Born and raised in the West African nation of Ghana, the Edmonton resident boasts superb academic credentials, with master’s degrees in Animal and Food Science earned at universities in Sweden and Finland, respectively, as well as a PhD in Animal Science from the University of Alberta.

FarmWise builds innovative systems and processes that allow farmers to streamline operations and increase food production efficiency.  FarmWise leverages state-of-the-art technologies to perform plant-level interventions. Automating the weeding process in vegetables is our initial step.

Rachelle is a Senior Precision Agronomist with Croptimistic Technology Inc. Rachelle utilizes SWATMAPS to create soil-based zone maps to build management zones that target soil applied products in relation to response potential and ROI. With over 10 years in the Agriculture industry, she is passionate about on farm agronomy and nutrient stewardship.

Samuel Fournier has devoted his career to working in the cleantech industry. He’s a seasoned international development leader, having worked on four continents enabling innovative companies to expand their markets. Sam greatly comprehends the AgTech industry and carries a vision for a more sustainable agriculture ecosystem. He holds a B.A. in political Science from Sherbrooke University and an MBA from Laval University.

Prior to founding ChrysaLabs in 2018, Samuel held strategic positions in the development of smart cities implementation projects, electric recreational vehicles manufacturing and electric vehicle sustainable power plant solutions.

Steve Shirtliffe grew up and farmed for a while in Manitoba before he returned to the University of Manitoba for his MSc and PhD. Since then, he has been a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. His position involves teaching, research, and extension in the areas of crop imaging, weed control and agronomy. Past and current research projects have focused on pulse agronomy, non-herbicidal weed control as well as phenotypic and agronomic applications of crop imaging using UAV, ground and satellite imagery. He has a wide range of interests and collaborates widely with computer scientists, plant breeders, geographers, soil scientists and engineers to form dynamic research groups to tackle inter-disciplinary problems.

Susan Cooley-Pottier is a senior product manager at TELUS Business. Susan's work at TELUS is focused on expanding the footprint for current solutions by bringing them to Canadian farms and ranches, Solutions such as worker safety, connectivity, and asset and fleet management products. She has co-led the partnership between TELUS Agriculture and Olds College for the last two years, supporting in the development and collaboration on applied research projects. Susan has more than 20 years of experience in the agriculture industry having worked for ag distribution as well as chemistry and seed companies in various roles. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from the University of Manitoba.

RHST Industries Inc., is a leading cleantech Canadian company, that is manufacturing a Nature Based disruptive technology called the “Water Pearls, a simple drop in and walk away solution “, that can reduce the water footprint in agriculture, by simply inhibiting moisture evaporation loss from the soil, while letting water and air flow freely past it and enabling farmers to harvest groundwater for their crops more efficiently.

Together with my wife Jean, we operate Specialty Seeds Ltd., an irrigated farm near Bow Island, Alberta. Most of the farm is dedicated to seed production, with hybrid canola, contracted with several companies, being our main crop. We also grow and market spring wheat, winter wheat, durum, hybrid fall rye, yellow peas and hemp. We trade land with other farmers who grow potatoes, sugar beets and edible beans on our fields while we grow hybrid canola on their fields. The technologies we use on the farm include auto steer, section control, satellite imagery, yield maps and some variable rate irrigation.